M-ED-iEvil
by DevilWolf 9
Summary: Unlikely heroes united from the boundaries of time, three from the present from a town of PeechCreek and one from the past. Now, the Eds must ally themselves with a cowardly knight, Daniel Fortesque, who must free Gallowmere from evil and live up to the legend he was meant to be. Will the Eds find a way back home? Will Dan make up for his cowardice? Read on and find out!
1. Prologue

Hello readers! DevilWolf 9 here!

I'm back with another new story to add to the list! Sooooooooo sorry for the wait, I've REALLY been busy lately with studies and all. But now I'm back on the saddle!

A MediEvil/ Ed, Edd, n Eddy crossover

Now, onto the tale of epic magic, fantasy and humor!

Read/Review

No flames!

* * *

(The scene lights up, revealing a large stain-glass window illustrating a small peaceful village.)

 **In a time long ago,**

 **There was a kingdom of Gallowmere**

 **A land where the people were happy, war was unknown and children were polite and helpful at all times and not just when mooching for chocolate.**

(The window shifts, showing an old man in royal clothing with a crown embedded with jewels.)

 **The monarch of the realm, King Peregrine was a wise and just and, all in all, a bit of a decent chap - Greatly fond of Philosophy, Literature, and pictures of kittens wearing bonnets he was an enlightened ruler.**

(A tall and pale thin man in purple robes is shown in the glass,)

 **But he had among his retinue an official court magician, a brilliant but unscrupulous man by the name of Zarok.**

 **Instead of confining himself with horoscopes and balloon animals for which he was employed, Zarok began to conduct horrific experiments on the bodies of the undead**

(Zarok is shown waving his staff, causing several zombies to rise from the ground.)

 **Of course people often get quite sensitive about their deceased loved ones so it wasn't long before the King found out and had the sorcerer banished from the land.**

 **Zarok skulked away from the wilderness and busied himself by perfecting his experiments, seething with rage, and practicing his diabolical evil laugh.**

 **At last with an army of demons at his command, he set off to bring Gallowmere under his foul dominion.**

(Zarok leads his undead troops towards the peaceful kingdom.)

 **Captain of the royal guard, Sir Daniel Fortesque led the militia into battle against the unholy horde.**

(A tall lanky knight with full armor leads his men onward into battle.)

 **Songs are sung to this day how of he spearheaded the charge into the accursed multitude.**

 **How the invaders fell before him like wheat before the scythe, and how at last though mortally wounded, he fell upon the infernal sorcerer and destroyed him utterly.**

 **True these songs don't have particularly catchy choruses, but people cared less for chart success in those days.**

 **And there came upon the land a time of peace, harmony and quality wines at affordable prices.**

 **The tranquility was to last for 100 years,**

(Once again, Gallowmere was shown, but began to darken with a light of dark red, foreshadowing the darkness that was yet to come.)

 **But then the sorcerer returned . . .**

* * *

The story begins in the early morning in a small town named PeachCreek, there nothing much to it since it was all but a humble place famous for it's growth of Peaches and home of it's football team, the PeachCreek Cobblers.

The scene moves on to a cul-de-sac in the suburbs. The peace was interrupted by a loud crash that emanated in a nearby house,

"ED, YOU LUMP! WERE YOU TRYING TO WRECK MY HOUSE!?" Eddy shouted, grabbing the tall oaf by the collar of his green jacket and getting up in his face.

"Now Eddy, calm down. I'm sure ED has a complete legitimate reason for his actions, just give him a chance to explain himself." Double D tried to assure the short hot tempered boy.

Eddy merely grunted as he let go of Ed, the stupid grin never leaving his face. It was only a few minutes before Ed busted down the short ed's door and began running around his house breaking several furniture while calling out Eddy's name, saying he found something 'important'.

"Alright lumpy, what did ya find? Cause I swear, if it's another rotten mushroom sandwich you made from under your bed, I'll shove that thing down your throat."

Excited, Ed grabbed both friends in a bone-crushing bear hug and rummaged around his jacket to pull out a rolled up scroll covered in filth. With a quick flick, all the dirt and grime immediately flew off as the oaf opened it to his friends.

"Lookie what I've found guys!" Ed showed them the contents, "It's toilet paper from the stone age!"

Eddy just stared at Ed with an annoyed look, while Double D on the other hand looked on at the opened scroll with interest and gasped,

"Why Ed, it's a map!"

"A map?" Eddy scoffed with disbelief, "What's lumpy doing with a map?" It was hard to believe that Ed was able to get his dirty hands on a map to who-knows-where since the idiot was too dumb to even think. That, and he had a hunch it was another one of his older brother's prank maps. Just how did he get it?

"How'd you get it anyway, Ed?"

The tall boy merely stared off into space, not at all paying any mind to the his friend, until Eddy gave him a flick to his eyes.

"I found it outside!" Ed exclaimed swinging his arm forward pointing outside, hitting Eddy in the face while doing so.

"But how did you find it?" Double D pressed on.

"Ooooooooooooooh," Ed realized.

* * *

 _Several sounds of crashes and loud noises rang out from all over Ed's house as the front door flew open with Sarah holding Ed by the collar of his jacket and the back of his pants, she tossed him a few feet across the yard and into the sidewalk to smash into a lamp post while hearing Sarah shout after him,_

 _"Mom says you gotta go outside because you've been watching monster movies for too long! So you better stay out there until dinner time, got it!?"_

 _"Okay, Baby sister!" Ed called out happily, spitting out a tooth._

 _With that said she slammed the door hard. Ed got up from the ground with a few patches of dirt and bruises on him before he spotted something poking out of the dirt near the lamp post he knocked over,_

 _"Hello!", He scooped up the object and instantly recognized it as a scroll of some kind, he opened it up and peered inside. It wasn't that interesting though, just a bunch of squiggly lines and some words he couldn't understand._

 _Suddenly a thought popped into his mind, maybe Double D could figure it out! But where was he? Ed thought about it for a minute, his brain starting to beat from the process of thinking, something he's never done before. His brain beated faster and faster until he remembered that he went over to Eddy's house._

 _"Boing!" Ed held a large chunk of dirt and grass above his head, imitating an "idea lightbulb" and ran off to find his friends._

* * *

"Groundbreakingly fascinating!", Double D inspected the map further, making out the age-faded text.

"This is a map of the entire realm of Gallowmere, the very land we live in before it was settled and changed to 'PeachCreek!'"

Eddy picked his ear and snorted, "So? What's so important about that ol' piece of paper anyway?"

"Eddy, this map could show us the path to uncover not only information of forgotten history, but artifacts, documents, riches and hidden knowledge no archeologist has been able to find for centuries!"

Eddy's ear perked the moment he heard the word, "Riches" and snatched the map out of Double D's hands, he grabbed Double D by the hat and Ed by the ear and pulled them together.

"Well, what are we standing around for!? Lets' go find this Gallowmere junk! I can see it now! 'Eddy's museum of Gallowmere Artifacts!'

"My, my, Eddy, This must certainly captivated you! I've never seen you so excited for knowledge before!"

Eddy flashed the smart boy a grin while grabbing several items in large clumps and stuffing them in some suitcases while pushing his two friends out of his room and into the backyard.

"That's just the guy I am Double D! You and Ed get some supplies, that treasure- I mean, those artifacts aren't gonna dig themselves up ya know!"

Ed gave Eddy a salute, "You got it Eddy!", with that he dragged Double D along with him.

The shortest boy began to rub his hands together maliciously as the thoughts of riches rush through his thoughts.

"Oh, this is gonna be good . . .", he sniggered to himself while going off to do his share of gathering supplies for their search.

* * *

Later on that day, Eddy managed to "borrow" a few supplies from Rolf's place. Not entirely knowing what they would need, he just went with the essentials of exploration; a few lanterns, shovels, pikes, some rope. With as much haste he could muster, Eddy crammed all of these items into his small suitcases and ran off before Rolf would show up.

Double D looked over the list of supplies, his role was to get food for the trip since it may take longer than expected. He picked out several assortments of fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, and water.

Ed on the other hand, just grabbed everything that wasn't nailed down and somehow, managed to shove it into his gym bag. With all his might, he pushed the massive bag through the window from his bedroom and went on his way to meet up with the others.

Eddy stood waiting at the junkyard by the broken down van they used to hang out at, tapping his foot with impatience.

Where were they? Didn't they know just how important this was? Treasure and Riches waiting to be looted? The wait was killing him to no end. He then checked his watch. Half past Eleven.

"BEEP BEEP!"

The sudden shout immediately caught Eddy's attention as he turned to see his tall dim-witted friend run up to him with Double D closely behind.

"Bout time you guys showed up! What took ya!?"

"I sincerely apologize for the wait, Eddy. But you can't rush preparation." Double D stated as he fixed his hat after setting his bag to the ground. Once done, he looked up at Eddy.

"What?" He raised his eyebrow.

"The map? I believe YOU were the one who had it in your possession."

"Well, don't look at ME! I don't have it! Ed?"

Ed reached into the back of pants, "Don't worry guys! I put it in a safe place." He rummaged further until he finally pulled out the map which was, thankfully, still intact, despite being covered in a few patches of dirt and grime.

"Um, yes. Thank you, Ed. Now, let us take a look, shall we?", Double D carefully told hold of the map with some rubber gloves as to not get filthy.

"Alright, according to this, we should head into the forest up north. There, we would reach what's left of the Gallowmere cemetery, shouldn't be too much of a hassle as it's just a straight ahead."

"You heard Sockhead, Lumpy! Get movin'!", Eddy tossed his suitcases up on Ed's large bag along with himself up as Ed hoisted them up on his back.

"Get on up here, Double D!", Eddy pulled up the lad by the end of his shirt and set him down beside him, "Just sit back, relax and let Ed handle the traveling."

With that, he laid back and decided to take a few winks. Double D was too fixated on the map to talk to anyway.

Hours have passed by as the trio traveled, the sky began to turn dark, it's bright blue sky fading to a misty orange-purple hue. The trees were starting to look taller and darker the deeper they went into these woods, nothing but the chirping of crickets and the caws of crows accompanied them. Double D raised the lantern, illuminating, the path. He squinted his eyes, normally the darkness would cause one to think of seeing figures of someone or something. This was different, as he looked further, he tapped on Ed's head to cease his tracks.

"Eddy! Wake up, we've reached it!", the boy tried to wake his sleeping friend but to no avail as the the only sound he managed to get out of him was a snore.

"Allow me, thank you!", Ed held to Eddy by his hairs and with a simple toss, threw eddy into the cemetery.

"Huh? What the- OW! HEY! OOF! GAAK! WATCH IT!", alas, Ed's strength was too much and the two eds could only watch the short boy bash into several tomb stones making pinball sounds with each hit and rolling off into a dug up grave nearby!

"Gutterball!", Ed pumped his fist into the air in victory.

"Oh dear me! Come along Ed, Eddy will be needing our assistance!" Double D ran to the grave hoping his friend was alright. And to his relief, he was.

"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA THROWING ME LIKE A STUPID FOOTBALL ACROSS THIS DUMP!?"

And his personality was still safely intact. Joy.

"Don't worry, just don't go anywhere! Ed and I will get the rope!"

Eddy looked around the grave, seeing nothing but dirt."Yeah, I'll stay put alright.", he scowled.

The two pulled Eddy out once he got a hold of the rope, Eddy stretched his back as he got onto his feet. But not before feeling a painful sting. "OW! What the?", reaching behind his shirt, he pulled out an old trinket. The item seemed to be a golden helm used to keep something intact.

"Could it be?", Double D came close to see the item himself, his eyes widened with amazement. "It is! A piece of the mythical Anubis Stone, an ancient Egyptian artifact given to the kingdom of Gallowmere! Isn't this grand, Eddy? An artifact eluded by time and it has finally been recovered! By US no less! Eddy? Eddy?"

Eddy's smile grew wider, "Ha . . .Ha ha! AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAA! We're rich! RICH, I tell ya! Dirty, filthy, disgustingly rich!"

It took only a second for Double D to realize the Stone began to glow an eerie bright green light in the short ed's hands, being too busy celebrating his treasure. The wind and leaves began to whip fiercely through the trees as clouds surrounded the sky,"Eddy! The Stone! Drop the Stone, NOW!"

"What? No way, jose! What makes ya think I'm gonna - Hey, what gives with the light show?", looking down, the Anubis Stone then shined brightly with the wind and leaves circling around them like a vortex.

"The Stone has chosen us!" Was the last thing Ed yelled before the trio disappeared in a flash of green light.

* * *

\- Gallowmere, 1386 . . .

* * *

The old sorcerer flipped through each page and studied carefully as he searched for a spell essential to his plans. During the time of hiding, the elderly sorcerer studied his dark arts in hopes of gaining the power he needed to conquer the realm along with the world. Running his thin bony finger along the text, he read over the following,

Explosive spell? No, it will draw too much attention. He wanted to execute this plan of his stealthily, he was in no mood of being greeted by the village guards.

Hypnosis spell? Close, but not enough.

EverNight spell? . . . Yes. YES!

"Ah ha! Found it!" The sorcerer laughed evilly, he had found the spell he was looking for! Turning into a billow of crimson smoke, he teleported from his study and to his next destination.

Sleeping Village.

'They will pay dearly for what they've done to me. Soon, I shall show them all that they have made a fatal mistake of making me their enemy'

Zarok gazed upon the village afar on a distant hilltop, smirking to himself and held his trident-like staff high. He channeled his power into incantation and could only watch as the staff shot out a smoke-like blast into the sky, heading towards the sun. The early morning brightness faded to complete darkness leaving what was left of the sun to drain into nothing more but a second moon.

The villagers were still not out for they still laid fast asleep in their homes, not knowing that the evil fiend they once banished has once again returned, and walking down the streets of their village no less!

Again, Zarok called upon the power of his staff to aid him his quest for vengeance and emit green electricity running through his staff and onto the streets, the poor innocent villagers were fast asleep, blissfully unaware of the danger they were in. The electricity extracted their souls, leaving their bodies as nothing but zombie-like husks.

With the souls of his victims in his clutches, Zarok continued his path into the Graveyard. His face in an angry sneer, he recalled his previous army destroyed by that bumbling coward who had "supposedly" killed him in battle. The thought of turning the fool into an undead minion was quite an amusing thought.

The souls the villainous sorcerer collected passed through the graves and into the earth, causing immediate movement from underneath. It was not long before the bodies within those graves began to rise from their permanent slumber to once again enter the land of the living and cause havoc.

Paying no mind to this, Zarok went on his way further into the graveyard, spreading the reanimation of undead corpses.

* * *

Unknown to him, he failed to notice a flash of green light and three boys falling onto the ground in a pile. The shortest one was the first to speak.

"GET OFF ME, MONO BROW!", kicking Ed off with a kick to the face,"Ooow, my aching back!" Eddy rubbed his hands on his bruised backside. Eddy took a look around and immediately took a double take on his surroundings, the buildings were completely old looking compared to modern architecture. Were they on a movie set? The entire place looked like something out a medieval show!

Eddy snapped out of his train of thought to notice they were on ed short. "Double D? Yo, Poindexter, Where'd ya go!?"

"Oh! Oh! Found him, Eddy!", Ed peeled the boy genius off of his stomach who was literally flattened like a pancake and set the dazed ed on his feet.

"T-Thank you,Ed.", Double D thanked. "My goodness!", he looked around the village, "Where in sam hill are we?"

"That's what I'd like to know!", Eddy yelled at the top of his lungs, "I had the treasure right in my hands,Double D! RIGHT IN MY HANDS!" He then deflated, "Now it's gone . . . "

"B-b-but this is impossible! How could an artifact transport us here? There has to be a better explanation to this!"

"Oh! I know where we are, guys!", Ed pulled his buddies over to him and whipped out a comic book from the hammer space of his jacket. "The mystical stone of might that was found by three adventurers have transported them through time and must fight the legion of monsters to get themselves back to once they came!"

Eddy just gave a blank stare, "That's got to be the stupidest thing you've ever-"

"Now, now, Eddy.", young Eddward slowly and carefully slipped out of Ed's hold and brushed himself off from the filth that got onto his shirt. "Let's not be too hasty. We'll just ask for assistance, I'm sure the local residents wouldn't mind telling us where we are. Perhaps we'll get answers of how to get back to the Cul-de-sac."

Eddy scoffed, "Whatever . . ." , still miffed about losing the stone.

Finally agreeing, the three searched around. But to no avail, no matter where they went there were no signs of anybody. The shops were empty and not a single street held a living soul, no sounds were heard in this place but the sounds of their own footsteps. In other words, it was a complete ghost town.

"Man, where is everybody?", Eddy looked through the butcher shop window, hoping to see anyone inside, only to find utter blackness.

"Odd.", Double D inspected his watch, "Time has passed and it's 10 in the morning, usually people rise and start their business at this hour. Yet, the sun hasn't risen yet. Strangely peculiar."

"Oh, too cool!", the two of them turned to Ed, seeing him looking back into the graveyard.

"Yo, Ed! We ain't got time for sightseeing! In case you hav-", Eddy paused, "Whoah."

Eddy stared in awe once he and Edd saw several green lights were seen flashing in the resting place of the dead. The two of them were so captivated in the light, that Ed slowly began slowly walking his way towards the graveyard entrance like a the attraction of a moth to a flame.

Double D caught wind of his and quickly blocked Ed's path, preventing him to go further. "Oh no, you don't! Don't you even THINK of going in there, mister! If you have noticed, we are already in a serious predicament. Just going there will only make the situation worse than it is!"

"Aww.", Ed looked down in disappointment.

"Now,hold on there a minute, Sockhead.", Eddy intervened, "Ed's got the right idea of going in there!"

"I do?", Ed asked in confusion.

"You can't be serious in Ed's idea of heading in there, are you, Eddy?"

"Yeah!," Eddy grabbed them both and pulled them close to huddle up, "Listen, that freaky green light is what got us here in the first place, right? So I figured, why not go and check it out? If it can take us here, then it could take us back!"

Double D was about to object and say that the idea was absurd, but what Eddy said was correct. It could be possible, and it's not like there was any option in the moment, so he supposed he could just go with it.

"Well? Any smart ideas, Einstein?"

"Very well," Edd sighed in defeat , "We'll go in"

"Heh, I thought so." Eddy smirked. Together, they marched past the entrance and towards source of the mysterious flashes.

* * *

The scenery was quite dark and eerie as it was to expected, several gravestones were cracked with age and entangled in roots of nearby plants. The crunching of the gravel path was quiet with every step they took through their passage of the lonely resting place. They even lost track of time as they were too focused in making their way through the incredibly large graveyard. Double D was beginning to feel unnerved, taking glances at each of the graves which have strangely seemed to have holes in were the bodies would be. Recently dug up holes.

"Hello, mist!", Ed waved at the ether that snaked around the entire ground. What it was, Double D had no idea, but it was best to keep Ed away from it for in case it would turn out to be harmful.

"Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngh . . ."

"Oh, come on, boys. Man up, will ya?", Eddy called, " It's not my fault you don't have any leg power to keep movin'!"

" Um, Eddy? . . .", Double D broke into a cold sweat,"That wasn't us. . ."

"Huh? If it wasn't you guys, then who?"

Ed pointed his finger to the shadows and cried out,

"ZOMBIES!"

On cue, the three watched as several or more zombies emerged from the darkness. The pungent smell of decomposition from many years stung their noses. The clothes of these reanimated monstrosities were ragged and tattered, covering what was barely left of their rotted green skin. They stretched out their arms to the young Eds and let out a hostile hiss, stumbling over to them quickly now that they found their dinner.

"RUN FOR IT, BOYS!", Eddy took off sprinting away from the zombies while pulling Eddward with him.

"Lothar will banish you unholy spawns of death back to the realm of hades!", Ed prepared to charge if not for being yanked by his jacket collar. "Aww, but Eddy, I wanted to banish them from whence they came!", whining of his missed opportunity.

"That won't do us any good if they end up eating us, you idiot!", Eddy continued to run, dodging the hands of zombies rising from the ground till they reached the biggest tomb at top of the hill.

Eddy paced in panic, there was nowhere left to run and nothing for them to use to defend themselves. His fear increased as the sound of hisses and moans grew nearer.

"Eddy, they're coming this way!", Double D backed up into the tomb wall, trembling. The tomb was the only place Eddy thought of that may give them the safe haven they needed.

"Quick, in here! Ed, bust the door down! Hit it with something! Something big!"

* * *

The tomb door bursted open with a bruised Eddy flew down the entrance and landed at the bottom of the stairs with Ed and Double D following suit once they closed the stone door before the zombies arrived.

" Good job, Ed . . . ", Eddy groaned.

"We have avoided the clutches of the evil undead horde!", Ed danced around in victory.

"Ed, this is serious! We are trapped in a tomb surrounded by those- those- THINGS!", Double D grabbed Ed by the arm, still shaken by what just occurred.

"I know, isn't it cool?"

Eddy got up and dusted himself, "Well, we're not gonna stick around until we find a way out.", Eddy scanned the tomb and was amazed by what he saw, "Wow . . "

The entire place was large, the walls and floors were painted in bright heroic colors as the rooms were filled with strangely enough, a training room and a study in the next room apart from it. They each had one question going through their minds,

'Whose tomb is this?'

The three of them stopped once they reached the end and stood in front of the skeletal body of the tomb's resident. It was in an instant, they reared back when the skeleton was engulfed in a flash of green light and awaken from his eternal rest.

How fortunate it certainly was to find themselves in the safety of the tomb of Gallowmere's greatest hero,

 **Sir Daniel Fortesque.**


	2. Dan's Crypt

**Hey, DevilWolf9 here!**

 **I'm back continuing the story! Sorry for the long ass wait, studies are such a pain!**

 **Anyway, a quick note to mention; there will be some 'Toon physics' moments in the story, (such as being flattened to a thin sheet or pulling large random objects from small spaces, etc.) After all, this is also an Ed, Edd n Eddy fic! Gotta keep its elements!**

 **Now, onto the story!**

* * *

 **Dan's Crypt**

 **The best to go if you're looking for a dead Dan . . .**

* * *

The Ed's stood back, standing clear of the light that had engulfed the skeletal body in front of them. They shielded their eyes for the brightness was far too much for them to handle close up. Slowly, the light began to die down. Removing their arms and hands to see, they stood paralyzed. The skeleton that laid before them began to twitch, then slowly stir as if awakening from a pleasant sleep.

"Touch the skeleton! Touch the skeleton!~", Ed sang happily as he went closer to the corpse, excited at the sight of magic.

"Ed!", Eddy yanked him back. "Quick, over here, he won't see us." Pulling his friends behind a pillar, they hid themselves from the rising body. "Just keep quiet, we'll get the drop on him when he ain't lookin'."

The great Sir Dan could not tell what was going on, blackness was all he saw and felt exhaustion through his body, or what was left of it at the least. Perhaps this was all a simple dream. Yes, that's probably what this all was. A dream. Just lay back and fall back to slee-

"Hey, you! Fortesque! ", A small voice was heard inside his cranium.

"What's this?", The skeleton thought.

"Come on. Get up! We have much to do!"

Dan rose up again almost immediately after. Huh? Strange, his body felt lighter while turning to look around, trying to find the source of the voice. Deciding to look down to see why his body felt different, he was horrified to see that instead of skin and flesh, was nothing but bone!

"Wha - What's going on!? Who are you!?", he stopped and realized that his lower jaw was missing, resulting in his speech becoming muffled.

"GET 'IM, ED!"

"Ed, wait!"

Out of nowhere, Dan spotted a tall boy in a green jacket leaping straight to tackle him to the ground. Luckily for Dan, he was quick enough to duck from his assailant and hear him emit a loud 'smack' sound once the boy hit the wall. The surprised knight backed back in fright at what just happened. Acting quickly, he scrambled up to his feet defensively, but failed as he continued to tremble in fear.

"QUICK, LUMPY! SACK THAT BAG OF BONES!", Turning around, he spotted another boy with a yellow shirt and blue pants. Unlike the other one, he was much shorter and had one hell of a loud mouth as it was painfully obvious to point out. The skeleton raised his hands defensively as he took several steps back.

"Hey, hey! That's no way to treat someone!", the tiny voice cried out.

"What the? Who said that?", Eddy looked around him, "Who's there!?"

"In my culture, we treat our hosts with respect and kind manners. Especially if they've been dead for 100 years. I believe a proper introduction is in order.", the voice continued.

Double D looked directly where the source of the voice came from. But he still stood frozen in place, seeing a small green cyclop creature poke his face from Dan's eye socket. "What in the world!?"

There were millions of thoughts racing through his head, this can't be possible. There just had to be a logical explanation to all this! Magic? Sorcerers? Genies? As a young man of science, he knew that Magic and such was just fantasy, a mere fairy tail used to tell children. It is pure fiction. Wasn't it?

"It is I, Al Zalam! Genie of the Sultan Prince, Razeem! Noble protector of-"

"Wow! So Cool!", Ed poked his finger into the skeleton's eye socket, trying to feel if the little genie was real. " I wish for superhuman powers! To help the people of the world! I wish for a giant ocean of gravy and buttered toast! Oh, oh, oh, I know! I wish-"

"You can't be serious!", Eddy cut in, pushing Ed away getting a closer look into the eye socket with his own eye enlarging with a critical stare. "Zombies I believe now, but a genie!? Puh-lease! Last time I checked, they're crammed in lamps, not bone-heads. I say this thing is a worm!"

Al shook his head, "You doubt ME? Well, true. We genies are usually trapped within the lamps, but that is before evil sorcerer tricks you! Traps you inside the skull of cowardly knight!"

At this, Dan rose his head in surprise. WHAT!? HE KNEW!? No, he wouldn't. The self proclaimed "Genie" wasn't there, so how could he possibly know what happened?

"Yes, yes! I was there that fateful day! I saw you hanging back, pretending to tie your bootstrap and get hit by first stray arrow! Ha ha!"

Oh god.

"PFFFFF, AHAHAHAHAHAHA! DID YA HEAR THAT, ED!? IN SHINING ARMOR HERE DIED GETTING HIS EYE POKED OUT!", Eddy held his sides in laughter.

"Oh! Oh!" Ed bounded up excitedly, "Did it hurt? Was it squishy like those blobs from 'Night of the Killer Slime-balls?' or maybe It stung really really bad like having your tongue pricked like 'Attack of the Needle Stabbers?'

Arrow? Double D raised an eyebrow. What did he mean by arrow? Then, in an instant, it hit him.

"Wait, I've read about you once.", Double D realized upon listening to the conversation and piece together some facts and possibilities. "You're him, aren't you? The Great Sir Daniel Fortesque! All this time . . . All these years, your act of valor, protecting Gallowmere as a noble hero is all a sham!?"

Sadly, Dan looked down in shame and nodded. But, his command to charge on the battlefield DID manage to get rid of Zarok after all. Or at least it should have.

Dan pointed down to the plaque built onto his coffin, stating his courage and heroism.

"Ah, never believe one's publicity. You just big coward, with a pitiful genie trapped inside his head."

"You got that right.", Eddy muttered under his breath, before getting an unpleasant look from Double D. "What?"

Daniel slid down from his coffin to the floor, what the genie had said about him was true. No matter how much he tried to forget, it was all true. All those soldiers willing to fight and give up their lives by his side, all the villagers who rooted and looked to him as well as the king had all depended on him, and because of his fear, he let them all down.

He looked down at his skeletal hands in sadness before placing them to his face, if only he still had more tears to shed.

His fault. It was all his fault.

* * *

Young Edward looked at the reanimated corpse before him. He was feeling many emotions in such a short moment. Confusion, What was going on here? Just what are they going to do? Will they ever make it back home? Was what they've seen out there truly was a sign of magic? Fear, was this where he was going to spend the rest of his days? Is this really happening? Will he ever see his beloved parents again? Anger, Why did they have to suffer such an unfortunate situation? This was supposed to be a simple expedition, nothing less. Why didn't everything they hope for come out as it should? And this knight who he once heard stories about as a child, inspired to become just as brave and noble as him was nothing more but an illusion. But his track of thoughts stopped as he saw Dan in his curled position, as if weeping silently and hiding his face, too ashamed to face the results of his terrible mistakes.

It was not coward and liar. It was a man in fear, sorrow, and remorse for everything's he's done.

Double D sighed. Although the knight who was once looked up to was but a fraud, he couldn't blame him. War was a horrifying experience. If he was in Dan's place, he would've been reduced into a spineless wimp as well before even setting foot onto the battlefield.

"Well, I can't say I blame you. I can understand why you would be ashamed. I would have felt the same way if I was in your position."

"It may be rough, but now is our time to set things right!", Al Zalam explained, "That crazy sorcerer is back from the exile! He has mastered the dark arts and is raising the dead, turning good men evil!"

Hearing this, Ed stood up triumphantly and said aloud, "I, Lothar will face the evil one! No monster shall survive the wrath of my flipper!", pulling out a spatula. Eddy saw this as an annoyance and yanked Ed to the ground with a strong pull of his jacket collar.

"Get real, Ed."

"Come on, we all forgive you. We know that you're a tough guy deep down.", Al cheered up the knight, "Why were you brought back from the dead? Was it his magic? Or fate! Fate gives you a second chance! A chance to make amends of your cowardly death!"

Yes, he was right. Although he wasn't too keen on going out there to fight what could be horrible mutilated monsters and other terrible beast he may face, it was all up to him now. Dan lifted himself off the ground and placed his fists on his hips. The life of his bad past was over and he had been given a new time, it's going to be different. This time, he will break free from his cowardly binds and face his fears as a man. This time, he will set things right. It was time to fix those mistakes and prove himself as the hero of Gallowmere.

"Oh! Be careful! Watch that gargoyle!", Double D warned, seeing as Daniel was close to knocking off it's pedestal. What happened next, however, surprised the four. The stone gargoyle awoke with life and looked at them before speaking!

"Well, well, well! If it isn't old Sir Daniel Fortesque! The "Hero" of Gallowmere!", he coughed a few times at the word, 'hero'. "Rendered lifeless and eyeless by the first arrow, rendered heroic by the mists of time! It's amazing what good PR can do . . ."

Ed squealed in delight, "It's a magical stone-troll!"

The gargoyle raised an eyebrow in annoyance, "May I continue?"

Eddy scowled, "Just get to the point, ugly!"

The gargoyle whacked him upside the head for his interruption. "Ow! Hey!" Giving the boy a frown, he resumed, " . . . now the fickle finger of fate has given him a second chance. A chance to make good his ignoble past. A chance to defeat Zarok and live up to the legend! . . . If I had any breath, I wouldn't be holding it."

Eddy snickered at Dan, looking down in shame before Double D yanked the short boy by the ear like a mother would do with her naughty child. "OW! OK, OK, I GET IT ALREADY!"

The dim-witted Ed bowed before the gargoyle in praise, "Please continue, my stony-ness! Tell us your all knowing wisdom!"

"Well, since you asked nicely.", he went on with, "Now, many of my stony kind are scattered all around Gallowmere. My brethren are known to be good sources of information and merchants to sell you any aid you and your friends may need on your journey."

"Um, excuse me.", Double D interrupted, "But there is NO way my companions and I are going back out there! We aren't very familiar to this predicament and besides, we don't know where to go."

"Worry not, my boy. 'The Master'; as he likes us to call him, leaves a sulfurous green ether as he passes through the land. Seek out this spiffy trail, and you might be on the right track."

"As much as I hate sayin' this, but Sockhead's right." Eddy leaned back against the wall, "I'm WAY too young and handsome to be zombie chow. I say the chump fit for this picture is old bone-head over here."

The gargoyle spoke, "This quest may be the only chance you may have to find what you are looking for. It is a once in a lifetime chance, shorty. This is your chance to experience the world unknown to you and learn from it through adventure, great treasures and perhaps learn more about yourself."

His ears perked up with a greedy smile plastered onto his face, "Treasure? As in Money? Moolah? GOLD!? I'M IN!"

Double D looked at the shortest Ed in shock, "WH-WHAT!? Eddy, you cant be serious! We've seen whats out there and what almost happened, we have no way of defending ourselves!" He couldn't speak any further once Ed popped up from behind them and gave them a great big bear hug.

"ADVENTURE, YOU GUYS!", Ed begged, "We get to see goblins and fairies and trolls and dragons and vikings and ghosts and-" It took a swift moment to shut him up when Eddy grabbed the boy by the lip and zipped it shut.

"Yeah, Sockhead,", Eddy wriggled his way out of the boy's iron grip. He walked over to Dan and slung an arm over the skeleton's shoulder. "We ain't got any other ideas! And don't worry about protection, we got our "bodyguard" Right here!"

"M-Me?!", Dan muffled.

"Please, Double D?", Ed begged, "Pretty please with buttered toast with gravy on top?"

He was about to deny the request once more but by looking into the pleading puppy dog eyes the lovable oaf was giving him, he caved in. "Oh, alright . . . We'll go. But promise me to stay close and out of danger! I don't want you wandering of with your vivid imagination!"

"YAAAAAAAYY!" Ed picked him up in a hug and twirled him about, completely delighted. He could finally witness the world he could only imagine seeing in his dreams! Oh what joy this brought into his heart!

Dan looked at them in confusion and curiosity. What strange boys. Their clothing seemed far different from many other children and villagers of Gallowmere. What did they mean by heading back home? Where they foreign? Who where they? Shaking his head, he took his mind off the matter as he made his way through his tomb. It was surprising how well built it was as he looked around, only the best for a hero he thought.

"Heh, nice decor!" Al Zalam complimented, "Early macabre."

There was an extra room that caught his eye. Peering in, he saw several items on display, looks like this was also meant to be an attraction of some sort. On a nearby pedestal laid a familiar book making the skeleton smile. His Journal! Thank goodness it was still intact! For you see, before his death, before his rise to fame, it was all he had close to him in his younger days. He would spend long hours scribbling his thoughts and wishes, he didn't have any friends then so it was all he had to ease his loneliness.

"Ah! You got a journal? Never pegged you for a reader and writer! Heh, you use a monocle, right?" The genie chuckled, making the knight roll his eye.

Along with the journal was a small satchel that was wide enough for other items, this he thought would be useful. Taking both out, he wore it over his shoulder while glanced down at his journal once again.

"What'cha got there, bone-head?", Dan jolted in surprise when he turned to see Eddy peeking over his shoulder. He shook his head, hiding the journal into his armor. It was unclear to him why, but by the looks of the boy, there was a nagging fear that he wasn't so trustful. "You done looking over some old junk? Cause we need to get this show on the road! I ain't getting any younger here! Heheh, I'm gonna be rich." The boy whispered the last part to himself while he greedily rubbed his hands together.

Dan ignored this as he headed up the stairway to leave and waited for the three boys to catch up, leaving him to take out his book and start writing with a writing quill.

While with the Eds, they themselves were talking to each other and figuring out how to make there way out of the graveyard once they were to leave their temporary "Safe Haven".

* * *

"But why him? He lied to everyone about his accomplishments and his victory in battle, we don't even know if he is capable of fighting with an actual sword." Double D held himself in a thinking pose, "I'm just not sure."

Eddy on the other hand, "Don't be such a baby! They should've taught him SOMETHING while in his army junk boot camp of his. Besides, if things go wrong, mono-brow will bail us outta there. He's got a real knack of delivering pain ya know!"

"Well, if you-"

 **"ONWARD, TO BATTLE WITH THE EVIL SPAWNS OF THE UNDEAD!"**

They whipped around to witness Ed charging his way towards them getting tackled and heading straight up the stairs where Dan awaited. Dan looked up from his writing and panicked, heading straight for the doors and struggled to open them before he himself was hit as well, bashing them through the hard doors as they tumbled outside into the graveyard and cried out as they were sent rolling down the hill.

Now, their adventure begins.


End file.
